Monday, May 31, 2004 1:00 AM

D.S.I.P. Pass out seat

PITBULLS:

D.S.I.P. doubles apply in the pass out chair . The responsibility is a little bit different in that you have already have partners view on the matter. Tom and I had three hands today that show this in action. I held QJx KQJx xxxxx x & the auction went 1♣-x-3♣-3♥ by me. Declarer bid 5♣ and around to me again. Tom’s pass is not forcing as my 3♥ bid was at best invitational to game . Tom’s pass was not D.S.I.P. as they bid at the 5 level . In the pass out seat if Toms preference was to defend rather then bid , so do I as 5♥ has no guarantee at this rarified atmosphere. I doubled because I had some defense and they were at the 5 level. The contract went for –300 and 5♥ had no chance.

We had another auction where D.S.I.P. doubles applied in the pass out seat. I had K109xxx x Q10x KJ10 and we were vul and they were not . Tom opened 1♦ and RHO bid 3♥ . I crawled in 3♠ and LHO bid 4♥ and around to me in the pass out seat. Spades over hearts can quite often be bid on desperation so it does not turn on forcing passes until game is reached. When forcing pass theory does not apply , D.S.I.P. theory does . Toms pass meant he has no interest in bidding 4♠ or he would have bid it himself or made a D.S.I.P. double. He therefore wants to defend or is waiting for some input from me to make his decision. I doubled saying I would rather we bid something then defend but I do have some defense. Tom pulled the double to 5♦ and went one down . Our partners were in 4♥ X at the other table making an overtrick when they got off to the wrong lead. 4♥ can not be beat so we won 12 IMPS on the board.

Tom had a hand that shows the discipline of D.S.I.P in the pass out seat . Tom held x xxxx AKxx Qxxx & every body vul I opened 1♥ . It went double and Tom bid 2NT which in our system shows a limit raise in hearts or better. His LHO bid 4♠ and I passed . Now what ? Limit raises do not turn on forcing passes unless we accept game . I did not double 4♠ saying I wanted to bid 5♥ . It does not sound like I have a spade trump stack pass taking into account the confident leap to 4 spades by the opponents. Despite his two defensive tricks and my vul opener, Tom felt he had enough information just to pass. Boy was he right ! A double void situation and 6 spades is ice cold even though I had 14 HCP !!

Stan and Lisa had a D.S.I.P. like auction at a very high level . It went 1♦ with everybody vul and Stans RHO bid 2♥ . Stan bid an invitational 2NT and LHO bid 4♠ and Lisa bid 5♣. Stan held xx Q109 Q10xxx Axx which was quite a speculative 2NT bid based on the diamond fit . Stan gave preference by bidding 5♦ and LHO bid 5♠. Lisa passed and around to Stan in the pass out seat. This is not a forcing pass auction nor is it a D.S.I.P. auction at the 5 level. Nobody knows who owns this auction with voids wiping out defensive tricks. This is common sense Bridge , Lisa would have doubled 5♠ saying she would prefer defending as she has 3 losers in the majors rather then two . She had Q xx AKJxx KJ109x Anyway it was match points so Stan bid 6♦ !!! This aggressive bid probably won them the open pairs as they went for –500 ( Lisa found the club queen so 800 was averted ) and 650 was ice cold the other direction with a solid 8 card spade suit and a diamond void to his left. The pass showing an extremely offensive hand really helped Stan in his decision as he now knows there is no fast two spade losers in 6♦ and Lisa probably is 6-5 rather then 5-5. A double would show a 5-5 and on that basis she would rather defend on this auction. The pass to show the more offensive distribution is very helpful in these auctions. She does not have to single handedly bid 6♦ as her pass gives Stan the option to double 5♠ with an unsuitable hand with too many points in the majors.

Here is a hand at a lower level which shows D.S.I.P. theory in the pass out chair. I opened one heart and the infamous Steve Willard overcalled 2♦ and Tom made a negative double with AQxx Kx Jxx J10xx and Mr. Fowlie bid 3♦ . This was passed around to Tom in the pass out chair . A D.S.I.P. double says lets bid something but I have a maximum for my previous bid with defense so D.S.I.P. Well , I had a flat opener with no spade fit so my decision was just to pass . +1100 when the smoke cleared against a very iffy 3NT game our direction with my 13 HCP !

Partner opens 1NT and you hold x xxx K10xx AKJxx and bid 2♣ and LHO bids 3♠ ( everyone vul ) and it gets passed around to you. A double can not be penalty in the balancing chair. You double and partner converts for +800 . If you bid 4♣ , partner raises to 5 and its down one !!

Anyway giving D.S.I.P. theory at the higher levels a work out today . The key is to recognize if the auction turns on forcing passes . If the bidding does not say we definitely own the hand, think D.S.I.P. theory. I believe that in competitive auctions at a high level switching modes to either forcing pass thinking or D.S.I.P. thinking is very helpful. I really appreciate Stan & Toms input in developing D.S.I.P. concepts .